Producer Rep

WeightOnWheels

WeightOnWheels

I was contacted by a Producer Rep that had seen my film and they want to set up a conference call to see how they can help us find distribution. What important questions or thoughts should I have going into this call?, other than upfront charges. Any ideas?

thanks.
 
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You want to get a PERFORMANCE CLAUSE on their part. If they do not meet a certain level of expectations, you can cancel the contract with them within 30 days.

Keep their representation down to 3-4 years if possible so you can seek options to renew or not.

Get an EXPENSE CAP

Make sure you have the ability to do a full audit.
 
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What's their track record? I'd have them rattle off all of the films that they were a producer's rep for and what he did for them.

I read in a book "I Wake Up Screening" that there's only about 10 producer reps in this whole world who are WORTH dealing with. I like SonnyBoo's ideas about making it performance based. With so many reps who TALK the talk, you don't want to give up 25% for nothing more than Internet distribution, if that's ultimately all that they wind up delivering.
Also keep in mind that almost always, you never see a dime off foreign sales when a producer's rep is used. Read Stacy Park's book for more on that.
 
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That particular guy said he was going to show the film to his partners and that was like 3 weeks ago. I sent him an email to check in on things and have not heard back. So, I guess his partners did not enjoy the film.

I do have another conference call tonight with another distributor that loved the film, so we'll see how that one goes.

Any other suggestions on what I should be asking???
 
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WeightOnWheels said:
Sonnyboo, What will an EXPENSE CAP do?
Click to expand...


A Producer's Rep will spend money on marketing your film. This includes entry fees for events, renting a booth at film markets, dinner expenses on meeting with clients, costs of creating posters and promotional items, advertisements in trade magazines for your film and others they represent.

There are significant costs in selling your film. They will over charge you 200x's the amount they spend. Putting a cap on it limits the amount they can gouge you for.
 
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Is it customary for Producer's rep to charge an upfront fee?

They are charging an upfront fee but the fee is applicable against an 10% commission on advances and royalties paid to us by distributors, foreign sales agents and television licensees.

Their fee is about 25% of the original budget of the film.
 
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A basic rule of thumb is you pay for products up front and you pay for services after the services have been performed. This is not always the case, but it's good to keep in mind, and ask questions here when you encounter a situation otherwise.
 
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Well I have a meeting with the a rep tomorrow and just wanted to be prepared. I do know for a fact that they will want a retainer. I just don't know if I should just throw the movie up online through CreateSpace or something, or if the producer rep is a better option.

Confused.:huh:

Thanks for all the replies and the help.
 
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If this rep has an excellent reputation, has found
major distribution for films similar to yours and the
"retainer" is reasonable, then it can be acceptable.

Do you due diligence. Find out what films this rep
has placed and how much they have made for the
filmmaker. If they don't want to tell you then take
sonnyboo's advice and run away. If that have only
place movies with names then take sonnyboo's
advice and run away. If they don't have a track record
of placing movies in theatrical release then take
sonnyboo's advice and run away.

Now yours might not be a theatrical release picture,
and that's fine, but make sure this rep has the connections
and clout to get movies in theaters. Make sure they have
connections and clout with the major DTV distributors.

They are not doing you a favor. You are paying them to
perform a service. Check them out as carefully as you would
a car mechanic. You would never pay a mechanic a retainer
up front on the promise that they might fix your car.
 
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